6. Trevor Sinclair – World Cup 2002
Sinclair wasn’t actually supposed to get anywhere near the first team in Japan and Korea, but first he filled in for the injured Danny Murphy, who had to stay behind, and then he was to replace Owen Hargreaves when he picked up an injury of his own (surprise, surprise) and then went on to win four of his twelve caps in the tournament.
Already 29 by the time of the tournament, he actually did a solid job of filling in on England’s ‘problem left hand side’ and returned home to wide acclaim. However, after that, and a move to Manchester City, his career began to wind down and he gradually slipped out of the picture altogether.
5. Ledley King – Euro 2004
It may not seem like much of a surprise now, knowing what he was capable of and what he went of to achieve, but at the time his inclusion to deputise for the injured John Terry took many fans and critics by surprise as his inexperience at international level surely called for someone else to have taken his place.
Wes Brown and Phil Neville were right to have felt aggrieved, but King performed admirably against France in the opening game and even filled in in midfield against Croatia. He would go on to collect 21 caps for his country , but injury robbed him of more.